Treatment Of The Subject. Part 3

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Treatment Of The Subject. Part 3

9. When a person appears before a photographer for a portrait, it his mind is fraught with the culture which he needs, it will flow from him in generous fulness, like a spring, as if by inspiration, just when he requires it. and of the kind he requires. There is something wonderful about this, but it is true.As soon as the subject is presented, the artist mind, if trained, will begin to work and to simmer, and his knowledge to bubble up to his aid. The pleasure he feels in the work, and that which he hop to give to his patrons, gives impulse to the power within him. What exists in his model calls up other suggestions, and he goes at the posing and lighting with a will and a conscious strength which surprises him. To produce the conceptions which arise from his mental power becomes his passion. How wildly he would work, did he not permit himself to be swayed by the rules of art; and as poetry without measure, as music without time, so his results would appear when measured by the laws of the beautiful.

We need to cultivate the sentiment of the beautiful, a feeling and taste for art, to read the book of nature in all its phases and endless variety. These are the much-neglected subjects that should be more urged and impressed upon the minds of photographers. These are the subjects that elevate, and inspire an ambition to cultivate the taste and a love of the beautiful;they furnish the mental and moral aliment that nerves ourenergies,and embraces the whole philosophy and secret of success; and as nothing succeeds like success, why is it that so few climb their Parnassus by this enchanted but more difficult road? - D.H.Anderson.

Whether the artist mean it or not, in every face ho photographs he tell a story. If it be the face of an infant or grown child, there is the sweetest of all stories - the story of innocence and strangely bound - up probabilities; if of a fully developed youth, there is the story of school - battle, with life ahead and gray hairs and honor in the distance; or the picture may be a register of school feebleness and an evident life of commonplace events in the future.If we are photographing those who are wearing on into the afternoon of life, then it is when the story may be of most Interest wear and tear of life, with all the turmoil of passion, has now gained the control, and every line and look has taken its impress from the long line of past action.-John Bkattie.

10. No more then about the importance of applying art principles to the practice of photography. We admit that, and proceed to the study of those principles as laid down by the "old masters," who themselves submitted to them in the creation of the glorious works which have made them immortal. And let the words of Goethe be our watchwords: "The highest demand that can be made of an artist is this: that he shall hold to nature - study her, imitate her; that he shall produce something resembling her manifestations."

11. That you may be able to discern the beauty and truth of nature, and apply the same in your every-day practice of photography, is the purpose, then, of the feeble instruction which follows. It is the partial outgrowth of years of delightful reading and study and practice amid the works of the immortal ones, at home and abroad, helped by the authorities who advocate their principles.

10. First, I would advise you to study nature; study it constantly, closely, and patiently. Never suppose that you are perfectly familiar with it; the more you study it the more it will reveal itself and its true character: many look and do not see.

Study works of art: paintings, engravings, sculpture, and photography, all demand careful study; and when you examine a picture, do not be content to pronounce mentally even a hasty judgment upon it, saying, " Oh, how beautiful!" or the reverse, but take time. It will well repay you to study out what are its qualities first, lastly its defects; try every line: now this deep shade, this high-light, this mass of half-tone; find out if you can the purpose or intention of the artist in every particular, and if you have the privileged companionship of a more advanced student than yourself, exchange your opinions freely; the advantage of doing so is evident. If your home is in a large city, be grateful for the opportunities its galleries and art repositories afford you for study. If not so favorably situated, take every proper oppor-tunity of seeing any private collections in the neighborhood, or of being introduced to their owners. Generally they are ready to receive kindly those who take like pleasure with themselves in studying works of art. Should no such opportunity be available, do not starve while so much art is to be met with in so many of the wood-cut illustrations of the present day; first-rate art, too, let me tell you - fit to inspire. - William Notmax.

11. It is an improvement in the right direction, and too much praise cannot be given to our photographic journals and the writers of books on art principles who have made such a persistent effort to impress upon photographers in general the necessity of an art cultivation in lighting and posing. Too much cannot be written upon this point, nor can a photographer study it too much, for here is the touchstone to rank photography among the fine arts. And not till photographers as a class have become art students, and their art knowledge apparent in every picture they make, can we hope to reach that point. It is true that portrait photography as now conducted has a certain business aspect attached to it that tends to degrade it as an art. This should be kept in the background, and the artistic effect and ap-

12.As a corner- stone to the structure, placed with the greatest consideration,correctness should stand pre - eminent

Should the eye be allowed to fall into a loose, imperfect habit of study, it will be found difficult to overcome it afterwards, when you see the folly of it, The first step then towards the education of the eve, is to learn to measure the distance. tween objet. Next take in accurately the forms of the lines which bound thespaces and the shapes which are contained or excluded by such lines. This gives the eye something tangible to work upon. Take a pencil or a brush and makes series of dots. Then draw lines from to another. Imitate them as near as yon can, over and over; again,comparing their eorrectness with the original.